Hello i have 2 baby hatchling rio grande red ear slider turtles(size of a quarter maybe a little bigger but not too much).. we just got them thursady last week. When is the best times to feed them. I am the only one who feeds them. I work at 6am so get up at 5 and then feed them at like 7/730pm is that ok. I am also trying to figure out how to help so they are not ao scared mainley tbd girl when it is feeding time and worry ahe is not getting enough food or even eatting when i feed them and let them sit for like 20 min. The boy eats let me tell you lol. How can i,help them not be so scared when pick them up..food?and time to eat... thank you for all the help i am new to this and want them to be healtha dn grow

What time does the lights go on? You can feed them then. I prefer to feed a bit of veggies/lettuce in the morning and some pellets in the evening. You might want to feed them separately until they adjust/get used to you.

We have a heater in the tank and then like a heat light that is a black light. What kind of veggies and lettuce do i feed them. But is there something i can do to help get the girl used to me and not so scared. The place we got them from said to have a warming light that is gor night time for them since they are babies

Noycejulieann wrote:We have a heater in the tank and then like a heat light that is a black light... The place we got them from said to have a warming light that is gor night time for them since they are babies

Very cute! But they are much too small to tell if they are a boy and a girl. My father-in-law is a veterinarian, and at about 6 months, he pointed out a few features that point them towards being a boy and girl, but even then he said they need to be bigger to tell. Their defining features are their size and front claws. You can assume one is a boy and a girl, if you'd like (that's what I did) but realize your predictions may be totally off.

That's a good sign to see one out of the water on the basking platform.

Interesting. They do indeed offer to sell baby male or female sliders.

If you go to Google Scholar, you can input the following search: "gender red eared sliders"

There will be several results. Look at the first result.

While it is just the abstract available (without purchasing the article), it does state that incubation temperatures appear to affect the sex of the hatchling. So they could indeed be accurately predicting and selectively breeding males and females!

Regardless, I sent them an email asking how they identified hatchlings as males or females. Interested to see if I will get a response.

If the incubation temperature is indeed a good indicator, then perhaps that is the only way to know what gender a hatchling is. If nobody knows the gender prior to hatching the baby, that is probably when you need to wait for the 4" to tell their age for sure. Your links are not for hatchlings. They are probably referring to the turtles you buy at the pet shop, that are at least 4". Hatchlings don't yet have the clear, defining features referred to in the articles you linked.

Anywho, that's great to hear that they enjoy basking. Turtles have personalities! My girl is the same, she is generally more shy when compared to the male. But I caught them basking together today, with the female propped up on the male's back, taking in some more heat! Cute.